New York City FC has a new coach.
Pascal Jansen was officially announced as the club's next head coach on Monday after City sacked former head coach Nick Cushing following the team's defeat to rivals Red Bulls in the conference semi-finals. Ta.
“We are pleased to welcome Pascal to New York City FC,” athletic director David Lee said in a statement. “We have some really talented players and wanted to hire an experienced coach to take us to the next level. Pascal ticks all the boxes we were looking for to lead New York City FC. He checked it.”
Jansen, whose contract runs until 2028, led AZ Alkmaar in the top domestic league in his native Netherlands from December 2020 to January 2024, and spent the last 30 games as head coach at Ferencvárosi in the Hungarian First Division. He brings an extensive coaching background to NYCFC, including serving as a former manager. year.
Jansen, 51, has coached AZ Alkmaar for 162 games and led them to the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League in the 2022-23 season.
Before leaving Ferencvarosi, he led the club to second place in 16 league games this season.
Ferencvárosi announced on Dec. 31 that Janssen's contract had been bought out by “a group that owns some of the world's leading soccer clubs,” shortly after Hungarian media reported that City Football Group (NYCFC and Premier League team) had bought out Janssen's contract. The parent company of the powerhouse Manchester City has begun reporting. — was behind this move.
“I am thrilled to be joining New York City FC. This is a special club with an exciting future and I look forward to continuing my professional journey in this great city and rapidly improving league. I'm proud and can't wait for preseason to start so I can meet the staff and players and get the season started,” Jansen said in a statement.
Jansen's name was also linked with his appointment as head coach of English second division club Sunderland in June last year.
The hire comes after the somewhat surprising move of parting ways with Cushing following a playoff loss in late November.
Amid reports that Arsenal FC Women are interested in Cushing as their next manager, Cushing declared: “I'll be here again next year,” and in an interview with the Post in October, said he would be interested in playing in the 2024 playoffs. He talked about how the expansion is part of a bigger picture for him. Had it for the long term ambitions of the club.
Jansen will be City's third head coach since June 2022 and the sixth head coach in the club's history.
He will be tasked with leading a NYCFC team rich in young talent, which is part of what appealed to Coach Lee in bringing Jansen on board.
“I think it's very important for us that our head coach at this point is someone who has very good experience developing young players,” Lee said in a team-produced video about the hire. . “Pascal has an excellent track record of giving young players opportunities and working with them throughout their development process to help them reach their full potential.
“We have a really talented group of players, the foundation of a group that we think should remain competitive for years to come. We wanted to make sure we hired an experienced head coach that we thought could take us to a level and certainly compete to win trophies every year.”
